Ian moved to the lee side of the boulder and lowered himself over the edge, hoping it was enough to give him cover. He knew he couldn’t step on the ground without alerting Lachestia to his position, and he hated to think what she’d do to him when she sucked him into her earthly grave.
Another shot resounded across the forest and loud voices called back and forth to each other. Ian flattened himself as best he could against the far side of the boulder, but just behind him he heard a sucking sound. Glancing awkwardly over his shoulder, he saw to his immense horror that, smeared in mud and looking as frightful as anything Ian had ever seen, the sorceress was standing right beside him!
Terrified, Ian faced forward again, attempting to make himself as small as possible. He dared not breathe, but his heart was pounding so hard against his chest that he felt certain Lachestia would hear it.
He tried to calm himself, but his grip on the rock was becoming more difficult to hold now that his palms were sweating. The sounds around him grew louder as more shouting echoed across the forest. The sorceress growled low in her throat, a noise that raised goose pimples along Ian’s arms.
“There!” someone shouted. “Over there!”
“Shoot it!” someone else commanded.
A loud bang echoed from the other side of the wood, and a bullet whizzed past Ian a mere instant before he heard a soft, wet thwack.
Lachestia screamed and the noise brought tears of pain to Ian’s eyes. It was so shrill and sharp he wanted desperately to cover his ears, but that would mean letting go of the boulder and he couldn’t do that.
Eventually, the sorceress stopped her screech and Ian felt a whirl of air as she moved quickly back underground. “What is happening?” a stern voice from the forest demanded and Ian could swear he recognized it.
“I … I … don’t know, Colonel. There is an entire battalion missing. Eighteen men and one tank came under attack somewhere across that ravine. One of the survivors claims that a creature rose up from underground and buried the men and the tank alive.”
“Where is this survivor?”
“We sent him back across the border, Colonel.”
“What are you shooting at?”
“There was someone over there by that boulder,” said the soldier. “We assumed it was the enemy and opened fire.”
There was a pause, then he replied, “I see no bodies, Lieutenant.” And with that, Ian heard the cracking of twigs and leaves as footsteps came through the underbrush. Ian felt his fingers slipping, and he tried to hold on, but he had to reach up and adjust his grip on the boulder. One of the men coming toward him must have seen it, because the footsteps halted and the German colonel shouted, “You there! Come out from behind that boulder with your hands up!”
Ian was shaking with both fatigue and fright. He knew that if he let go of the rock, the sorceress would pounce. He also knew that if he showed himself to the Germans, he would be shot. “Come out now or we will open fire!” added the colonel.
Ian closed his eyes. He was out of options. He would be either shot or sucked down into the ground by the sorceress. The only decision now was selecting which way to die.
After thinking for a brief moment, he considered that being shot might get the deed over with more quickly and perhaps even be less painful. So with great regret he pulled himself up on top of the boulder and stood with his arms raised.
Below him glowered the colonel with about twenty men, including the sergeant who had spared his life just the day before. The colonel seemed to realize this as well, because after taking one long look at Ian, he turned to the sergeant, raised his pistol, and shot his own man.
A hushed, stunned silence fell on the entire group as the soldier fell face-first to the ground with a loud whump!
The colonel swiveled, his gun still raised as he pointed it up at Ian. “This time, I shall make certain you die, spy!”
Ian closed his eyes, shaking from tip to toe atop the boulder, his arms still pitifully raised above his head. His heart continued to hammer away and he tried to think of something peaceful in his final moment before death, but nothing other than the angry rat face of the colonel filled his mind.
As Ian waited to die, he quickly became aware that the shot that was supposed to kill him had not yet come. He wondered what the German colonel was waiting for, so he risked opening one eye to take a peek.
But when he looked, he saw only a large hole in the earth where the colonel had been a moment before and the stunned pale faces of the soldiers standing nearby. And then pandemonium ensued.
Some men shouted and ran; others pointed their rifles at the ground, which Ian noticed was once again swirling; still more men trembled but otherwise did not move. And then, one by one, the soldiers began to disappear. Lachestia claimed the German soldiers who’d been standing closest to the colonel first, and moved her way outward, attacking each man in turn.
Ian stood on his rock, petrified, as the muffled cries of the victims filled the surrounding forest with panic and fear. He saw some soldiers throw their rifles down as they ran. Others shot directly into the earth but were still unable to get away; nearly the entire battalion was quickly and efficiently buried alive, save for the man shot by the colonel himself. Besides Ian, that soldier was the only body who remained aboveground.
With some guilt, Ian focused his attention on the prone figure lying just a few meters away from him. He couldn’t tell if the soldier was still breathing, but he knew he had to find out. So when the earth rumbling around him moved off into the distant forest in search of two fleeing soldiers, Ian slid very carefully to the ground and crept forward on tiptoe to the soldier’s side.
Kneeling down, he carefully rolled the man onto his back and found him conscious but clearly in pain. He’d suffered a gunshot to the left side of his abdomen, and Ian doubted he’d live more than an hour or two without medical attention. “I’m going to get help,” he whispered to the man. “I know someone who might be able to heal you.”
The soldier gripped his arm. “The curse is loose!” he gasped. “Leave me! Save yourself. Get out of this forest while you can!”
Ian, however, was not to be dissuaded. This soldier had risked his own life to save them, and he felt indebted to the man. “Stay here,” he instructed. “I’ll be back soon.”
But the soldier would not let him go. “No!” he insisted. “The curse will kill you if you come back!”
“I’ve no choice,” Ian told him. “You saved our lives. I’m not leaving you to die here alone.”
The sergeant was hissing through his teeth, obviously in a great deal of pain. “Help me to my feet,” he whispered.
Ian eyed him doubtfully, but the soldier pulled on Ian’s shoulder, determined to stand. The two of them got to their feet and, with the sergeant leaning heavily on Ian, made their way out of the small clearing.
Ian managed to pull the sundial from his pocket, and saw with some surprise that the dial still showed a shadow across the surface. “Sundial,” he whispered, “show the way to Theo, Carl, and Eva.” The shadow did not choose a new direction; instead, it thickened slightly and began to pulse. With careful, slow steps, Ian and the wounded German made their way closer to Ian’s friends.
They walked as softly as they could, listening intently to the sounds of the forest. Periodically, there were short bursts of noise—gunfire, shouts, screams of terror. Ian knew that wherever these sounds were coming from, Lachestia was at their center, and he was grateful that for the moment, all of them seemed to be well away from where the dial was leading them.
After a time, Ian thought he began to recognize their surroundings, and as they emerged from behind a huge tree, he was certain that the small patch of gray and red in the distance was Eva’s cottage.
“We’re nearly there,” he said encouragingly to the wounded man.
“I don’t know how much farther I can go,” confessed the soldier.
With his free arm, Ian pointed. “Do you see that? We just nee
d to make it to that cottage and you’ll be right as rain.”
The soldier said nothing more as they moved stealthily ever closer to the little house. But when they got to the yard, Ian stopped short. He heard someone wailing desperately from inside, and felt his heart plummet. “Oh, no!” he whispered, immediately worried that something had happened to Theo or Carl.
“What is it?” the soldier groaned, clutching his side in pain.
But Ian couldn’t take time to explain. Instead, he lowered the soldier carefully to the ground, promising, “I’ll be right back!” And then he dashed as fast as he could to the house, throwing open the door.
The inside presented a chaotic scene. It appeared that every stick of furniture had been damaged or destroyed. Clothing was torn and strewn about, and bits of china lay scattered all across the floor.
In the center of the mess sat Eva, cradling the prone figure of her grandmother and rocking back and forth while she wailed pitifully. Next to her sat Theo, trying her best to comfort the girl. In the corner sat Carl, teary eyed and looking terribly forlorn until he saw Ian, at which point he shouted and flew out of his chair, rushing over to his friend.
“Ian! You’re all right!”
Ian offered him a half smile and assured him that he was fine. No sooner had he done so than he felt Theo wrap her arms tightly about his waist. “Thank heavens,” she said. “I was desperately worried!”
“I’m quite well,” he insisted, his eyes never straying from Eva, who continued to cry inconsolably and hug her grandmother. Ian saw now how pale and lifeless the old woman was and he understood with a terrible certainty what must have happened.
“We came back and found her like that,” Carl whispered. “Poor old thing—she never had a chance.”
“Eva feels responsible,” Theo whispered. “She believes that if she’d been here when the soldiers came that she could have saved her grandmother.”
Ian shook his head. “She’d have been killed too,” he told her, loudly enough for Eva to hear.
The poor Polish girl lifted her head, tears running down both cheeks, and she sobbed, “I’m too late! Too late!”
Ian gave Theo’s shoulder a squeeze, moved over to Eva, and squatted down next to her. “It’s not your fault,” he said gently. “The soldiers would have killed you too if you’d been here.”
Eva continued to sob and bowed her head, lost in her grief. Ian stood and addressed his friends quietly. “Lachestia is killing anything that moves out in the forest,” he told them. “She very nearly had me, but a group of soldiers distracted her.”
“What happened to the soldiers?” Carl asked.
“She killed them all,” he said frankly. “Except the man who helped save our lives. He was shot by his own colonel and left to die.”
“The sergeant who pretended to shoot us?” Theo asked in amazement.
Ian nodded. “I’ve brought him back here.”
“You’ve brought him here?” Carl demanded. “Why would you do such a blooming foolish thing, mate?”
Ian shifted uncomfortably. “He saved our lives, Carl. We owe him as much.”
“He’s the enemy!” Carl shouted angrily. “And he or his mates did that to Eva’s grandmother!” Carl pointed at the poor lifeless woman on the ground.
Ian sighed and turned to look at the yard. Through the door he could see the soldier still lying where he’d left him, struggling just to remain still while the wound in his abdomen caused him great pain. “We have to help him,” Theo said, and Ian noticed that she too was peering outside.
Carl threw his hands up. “I’ll have nothing to do with it!”
Ian looked at Eva, who had obviously overheard their conversation. Gently, she lowered the lifeless body of her grandmother, smoothed out her hair, and got up. “Where is he?” she asked softly.
Ian felt a rush of relief. “He’s just inside the yard,” he said quickly. “I know that you can heal him, Eva. The crone passed her gift on to you—”
Ian was cut short when Eva moved past him through the door. It was only then that he noticed she’d picked up a poker from near the fireplace and was walking with purpose toward the soldier.
“No!” shouted Theo. “Ian, stop her!”
Ian flew out of the cottage after Eva with Carl and Theo close on his heels. He reached the Polish girl quickly and grabbed for the poker, but Eva was stronger and more determined than he expected. She held on to her weapon firmly and pushed and shoved and kicked at Ian for all she was worth. “Stop it!” he yelled at her. “Stop it, Eva! He didn’t do this! He’s not the one who killed your grandmother!” With one final tug he managed to wrench the poker out of her hand, and he flung it away to land in the grass nearby.
Eva reacted by lunging at Ian, attacking him with her fists and her feet, pummeling, kicking, and beating him, all the while crying uncontrollably. He braced himself as best he could and took her blows without protest. He allowed her every kick, every punch until the poor girl was exhausted. And then he took her by the shoulders firmly but gently and forced her to look at him. “It won’t bring her back.”
Eva collapsed into his arms, clinging to him while she sobbed. He’d comforted Theo enough over the years to know how to pat Eva’s back gently and tell her it was going to be all right.
But the moment was cut short when a hoarse and unsettling voice broke the stillness of the woods. “Well, well, well! What have we here?”
Ian immediately let go of Eva and turned defensively toward the voice that he knew all too well.
On the other side of the lawn stood the cloaked, smoky figure of Magus the Black. “How delightful to find such a prize within the forest!”
“Theo,” Ian whispered urgently while still facing Magus, “take Eva. Get to the portal. Run as fast as you can, and do not look back.”
“What about you?” she asked desperately.
“Don’t worry about me,” he told her firmly. “Now go!”
Theo took Eva by the hand and began to run. No sooner had they taken a few steps away than Ian raced to the nearby poker, picking it up to raise it above his head and run straight at the sorcerer. He had taken only three strides when he felt his insides begin to burn. He fought against the pain and forced himself to take two more steps. The heat increased and he doubled over, shaking as he struggled to hold on to the poker in his hand.
Behind him he heard a scream and smelled the oaky scent of burning leaves. Ian gulped for air and lifted his foot, wobbling as he pushed forward one additional step. Then another. Then another. He was within ten feet of the sorcerer, who smiled delightedly at him, exposing those horrible jagged teeth. “Well, well,” said the sorcerer again as Ian raised his shaking hand, holding the poker. “It’s not everyone who can ignore the pain of my heat, but then, no mortal has ever stood against the full power of my touch.” With that, the sorcerer raised his arms. Ian focused hard through the increasing waves of pain radiating through him. He lifted his weapon higher and took one … more … step.
In the next instant, a mass of movement approached from the forest, and abruptly, the pain coursing through him vanished. The switch was so immediate that it left Ian frightfully dizzy, and he fell to the ground while the world about him swirled and chaos quickly followed.
THOSE YOU LEAVE CANNOT BE SAVED
I an lay on his back, gasping for air. As he stared upward, his vision began to close in around him, but he fought against the darkness. And then Carl was beside him, tugging on Ian’s arm. “Get up!” he commanded. “Come on, mate! Get to your feet and run!”
Ian reached for Carl’s hand and was yanked to his feet. He immediately became aware of dozens of men charging through the yard, running for their lives, shouting in terror. In the chaos, he realized that Magus the Black had been derailed from finishing him off by a cluster of men who had all barreled into him on their mad dash through the forest.
Ian decided not to wait around for the sorcerer to recover himself. Instead, he forced his feet to m
ove as Carl continued to yank on his arm, hurrying in the direction he’d sent Theo and Eva. But then he remembered the poor wounded soldier and he turned to see the man also struggling to get up. He looked desperate and terrified and Ian knew he couldn’t leave him behind.
He pulled away from Carl and darted over to the soldier. “We’ll have to run,” he said as he swung the soldier’s arm about his neck. “But it’s not far. And then we’ll get you to a doctor as quickly as possible,” he assured him.
The man groaned when they began to move. “The curse!” he said hoarsely. “It’s coming!”
As if to confirm that statement, a loud rumble echoed from the forest and Ian heard screams as men were sucked under the earth by the terrible sorceress just below the surface. Ian risked looking back as the shouting and cries of panic intensified. The noise sounded as if it was coming closer, and to his astonishment, he saw Magus the Black free himself from the tangle of soldiers and swirling soil that had entered the yard. “Arise, my sister!” Magus commanded. “Arise and greet your brother, for I have come to fr—”
The sorcerer said no more. Instead, just like all the others, he was sucked unceremoniously belowground.
Ian wanted to laugh, and if he hadn’t been so afraid of the approaching sorceress, he would have stopped to applaud. But he had to get everyone to the portal and the soldier was slowing him down. Just as Ian began to wonder if they’d reach it in time, Carl appeared and pulled the man up by the other shoulder. “It’s that way!” Carl told Ian, pointing to an outcropping of rock with a small cave at its center, just visible through two massive tree trunks.
Ian squinted and saw the figures of Theo and Eva crouch and dart into the cave. He prayed that the portal would be open and that at the very least, the girls would reach safety. He also hoped that the hellhound would be gone from the other side when they got through.
The rumbling behind them grew louder. “The soil!” Carl shouted, and Ian could feel it too. The dirt underneath their feet began to loosen and become slippery.
The Curse of Deadman's Forest Page 29
